Clione limacina
Encyclopedia
Clione limacina, common name Naked Sea Butterfly or Common Clione, is a sea angel
found from the surface to 350 m in depth. Lives in both Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.
It was first described by Martens in 1676 and became the first gymnosomatous "pteropod" to be described.
to North Carolina
, Alaska, Canada, Northern Europe in Northern Atlantic and North Pacific.
They aggregate sometimes in considerable numbers before the coasts of Northern Europe.
The maximum recorded shell
length is 40 mm.
The neurobiology
of this pteropod has been studied in detail.
animal. But Welch (2010) mention (incorrectly?) minimum recorded depth 0 m and maximum recorded depth 0 m.
of the genus Limacina
: on Limacina helicina
and on Limacina retroversa
. The feeding process of Clione limacina is somewhat extraordinary. The buccal apparatus consists of three pairs of buccal cones. These tentacles grab the shell of Limacina helicina. When the prey is in the right position, with its shell opening facing the radula of Clione limacina, it then grasps the prey with its chitinous hooks, everted from hook sacs. Then it extracts the body completely out of its shell and swallows it whole.
It can survive one year without food. Under such exceptional starvation
in the laboratory the length of slugs have changed on average from 22.4 to 12 mm.
s yet self-fertilization is prevented due to various morphological, physiological, or behavioral mechanisms. Generally, marine gastropods shed their eggs.
Clione limacina is a prey of planktonic feeders, such as the baleen whale
s. Some fishes are also its predators.
Clione
Clione is a genus of small floating sea slugs, pelagic marine gastropod mollusks in the family Clionidae, the sea angels.Clione is the type genus of the family Clionidae.- Species :Species within the genus Clione include:...
found from the surface to 350 m in depth. Lives in both Arctic and Antarctic Oceans.
It was first described by Martens in 1676 and became the first gymnosomatous "pteropod" to be described.
Subspecies
- Clione limacina australis (BruguièreBruguièreBruguière is a surname and may refer to:*Jean-Louis Bruguière, French judge.*Jean Guillaume Bruguière , French physician, zoologist, diplomat.*Francis Bruguière , American photographer....
, 1792) - Clione limacina limacina (Phipps, 1774)
Distribution
Distribution of Clione limacina include mostly in cold waters, as the Arctic OceanArctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
to North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, Alaska, Canada, Northern Europe in Northern Atlantic and North Pacific.
They aggregate sometimes in considerable numbers before the coasts of Northern Europe.
Description
There are two races that differentiate in body length. Northern race lives in colder water and its size is 70-85 mm. The size of the southern race is 12 mm.The maximum recorded shell
Gastropod shell
The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...
length is 40 mm.
The neurobiology
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
of this pteropod has been studied in detail.
Ecology
Clione limacina is upper epipelagic, glacial and mesopelagicMesopelagic
The mesopelagic is that part of the pelagic zone that extends from a depth of 200 to 1000 metres below the ocean surface. It lies between the photic epipelagic above and the aphotic bathypelagic below, where there is no light at all...
animal. But Welch (2010) mention (incorrectly?) minimum recorded depth 0 m and maximum recorded depth 0 m.
Feeding habits
They feed in a predator-prey relationship only on the sea butterfliesSea butterfly
Sea butterflies, also known as Thecosomata or flapping snails, are a taxonomic suborder of small pelagic swimming sea snails. These are holoplanktonic opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the informal group Opisthobranchia. They include some of the world's most abundant gastropod species.This group...
of the genus Limacina
Limacina
Limacina is a genus of swimming predatory sea snails commonly known as sea butterflies in the family Limacinidae. This genus contains some of the world's most abundant gastropod species....
: on Limacina helicina
Limacina helicina
Limacina helicina is a species of small swimming predatory sea snail in the family Limacinidae, which belong to the group commonly known as sea butterflies ....
and on Limacina retroversa
Limacina retroversa
Limacina retroversa is a species of swimming predatory sea snail in the family Limacinidae, that belong to the group commonly known as sea butterflies .- Ecology :...
. The feeding process of Clione limacina is somewhat extraordinary. The buccal apparatus consists of three pairs of buccal cones. These tentacles grab the shell of Limacina helicina. When the prey is in the right position, with its shell opening facing the radula of Clione limacina, it then grasps the prey with its chitinous hooks, everted from hook sacs. Then it extracts the body completely out of its shell and swallows it whole.
It can survive one year without food. Under such exceptional starvation
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
in the laboratory the length of slugs have changed on average from 22.4 to 12 mm.
Life cycle
Sexes are separate but are seldom conspicuously different externally, simultaneous hermaphroditeHermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
s yet self-fertilization is prevented due to various morphological, physiological, or behavioral mechanisms. Generally, marine gastropods shed their eggs.
Clione limacina is a prey of planktonic feeders, such as the baleen whale
Baleen whale
The Baleen whales, also called whalebone whales or great whales, form the Mysticeti, one of two suborders of the Cetacea . Baleen whales are characterized by having baleen plates for filtering food from water, rather than having teeth. This distinguishes them from the other suborder of cetaceans,...
s. Some fishes are also its predators.
Further reading
- http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/cliolima accessed 5 January 2010 Boas J. E. V.Johan Erik Vesti BoasJohan Erik Vesti Boas , also J.E.V. Boas, was a Danish zoologist and a disciple of Carl Gegenbaur and Steenstrup. During the beginning and end of his career, Johan Erik Vesti Boas worked at the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen...
(1888). "Spolia Atlantica. Bidrag til Pteropodernes. Morfologi og Systematik samt til Kundskaben om deres geografiski Udbredelse". Det Kongelige Danske videnskabernes selskabs skrifter. København, serie 6, number 4: 1-231. Pages 162-166. Plate 7, figure 101-103. - Conover R. J. & Lalli C. M. (1972). "Feeding and growth in Clione limacina (Phipps), a pteropod mollusc". Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 9(3): 279-302. doi:10.1016/0022-0981(72)90038-X.
- Falk-Petersen S., Sargent J. R., Kwasniewski S., Gulliksen B. & Millar R.-M. (2001). "Lipids and fatty acids in Clione limacina and Limacina helicina in Svalbard waters and the Arctic Ocean: trophic implications". Polar Biology 24(3): 163-170. doi:10.1007/s003000000190.
- Gilmer R. W. & Lalli C. M. (1990). "Bipolar variation in Clione, a gymnosomatous pteropod". Am. Malacol. Union Bull. 8(1): 67-75.
- Gosliner T. (1987). Nudibranchs of southern Africa: A guide to Opisthobranch molluscs of southern Africa. Sea Challengers, Monterey. ISBN 0-930118-13-8
- Hermans C. O. & Satterlie R. A. (1992). "Fast-Strike Feeding Behaviour in a Pteropod Mollusk, Clione limacina Phipps". The Biological bulletin, Marine Biological LaboratoryMarine Biological LaboratoryThe Marine Biological Laboratory is an international center for research and education in biology, biomedicine and ecology. Founded in 1888, the MBL is the oldest independent marine laboratory in the Americas, taking advantage of a coastal setting in the Cape Cod village of Woods Hole, Massachusetts...
, 182: 1-7. - Morton J. E. (1958). "Observations on the gymnosomatous pteropod Clione limacina (Phipps)". Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United KingdomJournal of the Marine Biological Association of the United KingdomThe Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom is a scientific journal published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom....
37: 287-297. - Rosenthal J. J. C., Seibel B. A., Dymowska A. & Bezanilla F. (2009). "Trade-off between aerobic capacity and locomotor capability in an Antarctic pteropod". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106: 6192-6196. doi:10.1073/pnas.0901321106, ,